Blúiríní Béaloidis Folklore Podcast

The arrival of the harvest was for our forebears a time of great celebration, for it marked the point at which the lean months of June and 'Hungry July' (when the year's stores were traditionally at their lowest), gave way to a period of profusion and plenty. In this month's edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments, your hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan take to the fields to consider the harvest in tradition, discussing hilltop celebrations, naked horse-swimming races and the spirit of the crops itself, which appears all over Europe, in the form of a female nature spirit known broadly as the 'Corn Mother', as well as being symbolically represented by several animals.

Join us then, as we ring in the harvest season, that we might enjoy and partake of its fruits and give thanks to the earth from which they have sprung; the earth to which we return harvest after harvest, generation after generation, unceasingly, and without end.

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Visit duchas.ie (the project to digitise the holdings of the National Folklore Collection) to explore material relating to the harvest in traditon.

Harvest: http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=harvest&t=CbesStory

Sheaf Customs: http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=sheaf&t=CbesStory

An introductory address by Jonny Dillon of the Folklore of Ireland Society, to open 'Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair'; a night of music, song, storytelling and dance pertaining to the harvest in Irish tradition, which was held in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral, on the night of Friday the 29th of September 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JlOHTiVoww

The closing set to 'Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair' - a night of traditional music, song, dance and storytelling from Irish tradition, all of which pertained to the theme of the harvest, and which was held in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral on the night of Friday the 29th of September 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99pRom_8IcU

Harvest Knot Images: https://www.google.ie/search?q=Harvest+Knot&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit16LVn6zVAhUEBsAKHU9FBz8Q_AUICigB&biw=1504&bih=899

Last Sheaf Images: https://www.google.ie/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1504&bih=899&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Last+Sheaf&oq=Last+Sheaf&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i24k1.24868.26426.0.26555.10.10.0.0.0.0.149.657.9j1.10.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.10.656...0j0i10k1j0i10i24k1.IDmKFxUZSmI

The image used for this podcast shows the process of reaping and binding (as carried out by two particularly diligent young ladies!) in Co. Louth, 1946.

In the traditional dwelling is found a well of spiritual, cultural and material information. Through it many things are revealed, from the ways in which our forebears used materials from the natural environment to meet their own specific needs, to the symbolic and spiritual concerns at play as they choose sites upon which to build.

In this month's podcast Claire and Jonny explore some of the customs and rituals attached to the luck of the house, those practices employed to bring about plenty, prosperity and safety from all harm. Step over the threshold then, and sit awhile with us then while we take you about this old house - there are a great many things to behold herein!

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'An té níos treise ná Dia a chuirfeadh faid siar as a teach' / 'Only he who is stronger than God will extend his house westward')

This proverb references a traditional taboo regarding the extension of a dwelling in a westerly direction (a direction commonly associated with death in folk-tradition). The following photograph shows an instance in Co. Mayo where church renovations were ceased after locals insisted that the building could not be extended westward, leaving only an unfinished architrave on the wall - a curious example showing how closely intertwined are the material and spiritual!

http://www.paradisepossible.ie/DesktopModules/Inventise.DM/DMHandlers/PictureHandler.ashx?DestinationPicture=400

Since the earliest times, Man has sought to come to terms with the unknown powers and forces that act upon life and wellbeing. It is natural therefore, that our forebears looked to the natural world, and to the heavens, for interpretable signs and symbols by which they could increase well being and banish misfortune.

The Moon has long been our old companion, and has gazed down silently upon all that has passed here on earth since time immemorial. Similarly, in our looking beyond ourselves to the heavens, we have long looked to the Moon for guidance and blessing. It will come as no surprise then, that there should exist so great a body of folk belief and custom in Irish (and broader European) tradition regarding this luminary, some of which is explored in this episode of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments by Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon.

From the idea that the moon is a place of habitation for banished spirits, to its influence on human affairs, in this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis we look to the heavens and bid 'greeting to you new moon, kindly jewel of guidance!'

For further information on this topic, visit duchas.ie, the project to digitise the National Folklore Collection.

The Moon (English) - http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=MOON

An Ghealach (Gaeilge) - http://www.duchas.ie/en/src?q=ghealach&t=CbesStory

The first of May is marked in Ireland (and across Europe more broadly), as a day on which the summer is welcomed in; where garlands of flowers decorate the houses, in which young women of the locality bring cattle up to higher summer pastures to graze, in which the community re-asserts its boundaries, and the family unit aims to garner for itself prosperity and good luck for the coming summer. In this edition of Blúiríní Béaloidis / Folklore Fragments, hosts Claire Doohan and Jonny Dillon discuss some of the traditions and customs popularly observed at this time; from hiring fairs and Booleying, to shapeshifting witches and May altars. For now, rough winter has gone, and flowers cover the world - therefore we bid you welcome, noble summer!

This episode can be downloaded by clicking the '...' icon above.

Welcome to Blúiríní Béaloidis, the new podcast from the National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin.

In this introductory episode, hosts Jonny Dillon and Claire Doohan delve into definitions of folklore to dispel some common misconceptions surrounding this area of interest, as well as tracing the cultural and political context of the interest in folk-tradition, which saw it arise as an expression of romantic nationalist thought across Ireland and Europe of the 19th century.

The podcast can be downloaded by clicking on the '...' icon shown above.